Meme – A movie about a cult and a VHS tape seeks funding.

Writer/director/producer Sean Mannion has launched the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for his first feature film, Meme.

Meme is a story about Jennifer (played by Sarah Schoofs), a graphic designer, who tries to rekindle her dying relationship with Tommy (played by Shivantha Wijesinha) by showing an interest in his interest in VHS collecting and trading and in doing so comes across a movie called Meme. Jennifer is fascinated by the video, a short philosophical exploration of the nature of ideas and how they spread, Jennifer’s friend, Lesley (played by Lauren A. Kennedy), encourages her to seek out the creator of the tape to learn more about it. Jennifer’s journey leads her through interactions with a variety of VHS enthusiasts, called “tapeheads,” and ultimately to a cult called Children of Television, lead by Simon (played by Alex Bone). Jennifer inadvertently facilitates a shift in the leadership of the cult to Yvette (played by Tara Cioletti), a young woman who appears in the Meme tape. Jennifer’s involvement with the cult leads her to finally break up with her boyfriend, Tommy. Ultimately her journey leads her to Jeffrey (played by Jeffrey Gurian), the creator of her tape, and he encourages he not to look for answers with her but to create her own with a video camera he gives her.

Meme is currently seeking funding via Kickstarter with a goal of $16,000. Among the rewards offered to the project’s backers are digital and DVD copies of the film, a VHS bootleg version of the film, a chance to be a featured extra, props from the film, a chance to meet the cast and crew at the screening of the final cut, a night of karaoke with writer/director/producer Sean Mannion, or script coverage of the backer’s screenplay. The funding period for the project ends at 11:59PM October 9, 2013. The project can be found on Kickstarter.